Marlins Hit Back Hard

Day After Rout, 14 Runs Help Boost Morale

MIAMI GARDENS — The long-term effects of Saturday's 10-run Phillies ninth and the resulting Marlins loss remain unknown. If nothing else, the Marlins made it through the first 24 hours unaffected.

Employing the necessary short-term memory loss to keep their postseason bid alive, the Marlins salvaged Sunday's series finale with a 14-6 Dolphins Stadium victory. A prime-time national television audience watched the Marlins total 16 hits on their way to staying 2 1/2 games behind the wild-card-leading Astros. Earlier in the day, the Astros completed a home sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Marlins sidestepped what would have been a seasonlong five-game losing streak. An Astros loss tonight in Pittsburgh and the Marlins will open their three-game series against the Mets in New York on Tuesday a still-manageable two back.

Starter Josh Beckett (15-8) held the Phillies to two runs on five hits through six innings to win for the third time in as many starts.

Miguel Cabrera was one of five Marlins with a multi-hit game. He went 2 for 5 and posted his second four-RBI game.

Through Saturday, the Phillies had annihilated Marlins pitching. In winning eight of the last 10 meetings, they averaged 9.8 runs per game while posting a .358 batting average and 15 homers.

Sunday marked the first time in 10 games the Marlins held the Phillies to fewer than 11 hits.

The Phillies had scored 10 or more runs in three straight meetings and six times in the 19-game season series, which they won 10-9.

The Marlins' bullpen gave up another four runs (two earned) with the help of two eighth-inning errors and an Ismael Valdez balk. Scoring at least one run in six of eight innings helped the Marlins deflect attention from a relief staff that's now allowed 30 runs (24 earned) in five games.

Among the offensive highlights: Robert Andino recorded his first career RBI. Jeff Conine went 3 for 3 with three walks. Mike Lowell cracked his seventh homer and first since Aug. 1, snapping a 114 at-bat drought.

Coming off a six-shutout inning outing against the Braves for his first major-league win, Phillies rookie starter Eude Brito didn't make it out of the third. Juan Encarnacion dumped a Brito pitch to short right for an RBI double that made it a 2-0 lead.

Geoff Geary entered in relief and induced a Paul Lo Duca fly to right that was just deep enough for Carlos Delgado to score from third. First baseman Ryan Howard cut off Bobby Abreu's throw and delivered it to catcher Mike Lieberthal, but Delgado got a foot in before the tag.

Three of the five hits Brito allowed went for extra bases, including a Luis Castillo triple to start the game. Castillo, who left the game in the seventh with a tight right hamstring, ultimately scored on a Cabrera double-play ball.

Cabrera made a more meaningful contribution three innings later, delivering a one-out, bases-loaded single through the left side for two runs. That was the last of four consecutive base hits off Geary and gave Cabrera a team-leading 109 RBI. He is 13 hits shy of 200.

It also was Cabrera's 325th total base, setting a new single-season franchise record. He finished the night with 327 after starting it tied with Gary Sheffield, who amassed 324 in 1996. Cabrera ranks fourth in that category among league hitters behind Derrek Lee (373), Albert Pujols (342) and Andruw Jones (329).

The Marlins had more hits with runners in scoring position through five innings Sunday (five) than they'd totaled in their previous seven games combined. They entered the series finale 4 for their last 41 (.098) in those situations, including a 1-for-15 mark in the first two games against the Phillies.

Sunday also produced the Marlins' first double-digit hit total since last Monday. The five-game stretch with less than 10 hits was a season high.